"BC Hydro claims a Mission homeowner is ultimately liable for a fire that originated at the base of a smart meter one day after it was installed.

"A report by the Mission fire department said the blaze, which destroyed Trish Regan's house in the 7900-block of Burdock Street and leaped to the roof of a neighbouring home on June 15, originated at an insulating "lug" in the lower left corner of the meter base. The report says the terminal, which attached the meter base to the home, appeared cracked and "radiated heat to combust the wall at or near the meter base."

"BC Hydro claims a Mission homeowner is ultimately liable for a fire that originated at the base of a smart meter one day after it was installed. "A report by the Mission fire department said the blaze, which destroyed Trish Regan's house in the 7900-block of Burdock Street and leaped to the roof of a neighbouring home on June 15, originated at an insulating "lug" in the lower left corner of the meter base. The report says the terminal, which attached the meter base to the home, appeared cracked and "radiated heat to combust the wall at or near the meter base."

 ". . . BC Hydro maintains the meter base is part of the house and thus any damage or faulty wiring is the customer's responsibility . . .

Here's what BC Hydro's Smart Metering Team says about fires in its FAQ post online:  

Do smart meters cause fires?

"Our meters have passed rigorous safety testing and are certified by Measurement Canada and Industry Canada. Any reports of BC Hydro smart meters causing fires have been investigated and are simply not true. As of early January 2012, we have safely installed more than 560,000 smart meters.

"It is important to know this metering technology is not new; BC Hydro has been installing digital meters for the past ten years. Smart meters are simply digital meters with the added capability of communicating wirelessly about energy consumption and the flow of power through the system Visiting all 1.8 million of our customers provides a unique opportunity to identify potential safety issues in the field. More specifically, we are identifying a small number of situations where there are problems with the customer's meter base or there is faulty wiring on the customer's side of the meter. As with conventional meters, these types of maintenance issues may cause electrical incidents."

Are Smart Meters CSA approved?

"Smart meters are exempt from Canadian Safety Association certification because those standards govern electronic consumer products, versus products that are owned, operated and managed by the utility.  Smart meters are owned, installed and read by the utility, and they are governed by the British Columbia Electrical Safety Regulations"

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